| Online Courses about Home Modifications
Home Modifications Practitioners Program Certificate
These courses were made possible through a grant to I.D.E.A.S., Inc.
through the National Institute of
Health. Each course follows a similar format, with information about
the various conditions that cause limitations or difficulties in performing
everyday activities, and information about a range of environmental modifications
that can be implemented to compensate for deficits.
The courses are valuable to individuals who provide any type of home
evaluation, design, or construction service for seniors or people with
disabilities, such as occupational therapists, physical therapists, home
health care workers, case managers/social workers, builders/remodelers,
architects and interior designers.
The courses are offered in two formats: interactive and self-study.All of the self-study courses offered at are approved for nursing continuing education through the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. Occupational Therapy contact hours are approved by Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board. Please check with your state or national association or board if you would like to know if the continuing education credit will be accepted.
If you would like to earn continuing education through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, please visit Northern Speech Services and take our courses through NSS.
If you would like to earn continuing education through the American Occupational Therapy Association, please visit Dynamic Learning Online and take our courses through the Dynamic Group.
Interactive Version
The interactive version is offered at www.homemods.org, the web site of
The National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modifications.
This option allows you to interact online with other students as well
as the course professors through a cyber classroom during a specific 2-week
period. The Fall 2007 schedule is listed below. Complete all four courses
and earn a Home Modifications Practitioners Program Certificate.
Self Study
The self-study version is offered here on the I.D.E.A.S., Inc. web site. After purchasing the self- study course, you will receive an email containing a password that allows you to access the course anytime during a 30-day period, but you will not interact with others during the course. Complete all four courses
and earn a Home Modifications Practitioners Program Certificate.
Home Modifications
for People with Sensory Impairment
Self Study: 
Interactive: March 1st - March 15th,
2008 www.homemods.org
This course discusses home modifications that can help individuals with
vision and hearing impairments be safer and more independent in their home.
Professors in this class are Jennifer Brush, MA, CCC/SLP and Margaret Calkins,
PhD. Learning Objectives
Define and discuss three diseases that cause low vision
Identify three difficult visual situations in the home environment.
Appropriately choose at least three home modifications that will help
a client with low vision to be safer and more independent
Define age-related
hearing impairment
Identify three difficult listening situations in the
home environment
Appropriately choose at least three home modifications that will help
a client with hearing loss to be safer and more independent.
Home Modifications
for People with Motor Impairments
Self Study:
Interactive: April 1st - April
15th, 2008 www.homemods.org
In this course, you will learn how functional limitations in upper and
lower body movement can impact a persons ability to function safely,
independently, or without difficulty in his/her home. You will also learn
about the modifications that can compensate for these limitations. Professors
in the class are Jon Sanford, M.Arch and Carrie Bruce, M.A., CCC-SLP,
ATP.
Learning Objectives
Become familiar with the contributions of impairments
and body function to problems with task performance.
Discuss the performance
goals for reducing environmental demands on motor abilities.
Identify modifications that can be made to ameliorate typical problems
that people with upper and lower extremity and trunk impairments have
with routine household tasks
Home Modifications for People with Dementia
Self Study:
Interactive: May 1st - May 15th,
2008 www.homemods.org
This course is about home modification and how it relates to caregivers
and people living in the household with dementia. Modifying the home environment
to enhance safety, promote independence, and ease caregiving is increasingly
recognized as an important strategy for dealing with dementia. Professors
in this course are Margaret Calkins, PhD, Jon Sanford, M.Arch, and Jon
Pynoos, PhD.
Learning Objectives
Gain a better understanding of the
role of the physical environment in supporting both the person with dementia
and the caregiver
Learn how the environment needs to change as the disease
progresses
Understand how to help the caregivers develop environmental
coping strategies
Learn practical solutions to real problems
Home Modifications for People Who are at Risk
for Falls
Self Study:
Interactive: June 1st - June 15th,
2008 www.homemods.org
This course discusses home modifications that can help individuals who
are at risk for falls be safer and more independent in their home. Professors
in this class are Anna Quyen Do Nguyen, OTD, OTR/L and Jon Pynoos, PhD.
Learning Objectives
Identify the three key components of a well-rounded
fall prevention program
Classify fall risk factors as intrinsic, extrinsic,
or behavioral
Identify five design goals for individuals who fall and
explain their relationships to fall prevention
Identify general HM guidelines
for individuals who fall |
